Garland Pollard

We're Living Through the Best of Times

Fascinating stuff, and I don't see nearly enough folks talking about the velocity of money.

Technology is quickly making vast numbers of local businesses obsolete; in my newspaper business this change is frequently discussed but it is also happening in other areas. Most towns used to have numerous machine shops, printing shops and all sorts of businesses that are getting downsized.

We will just have to invent new things to do, and not go the way of the Candlemaker's Petition.

Delta: Use the Northwest Brand or Lose It

Fascinating comments all. Thanks. One thought that has little to do with the branding and marketing; seems like Delta after merger has one of the most diverse fleets anywhere. It's like a flying museum of aviation from 1975-2010. Quite interesting but in the world do they expect economies of scale from the merger?

www.delta.com/planning...

Delta: Use the Northwest Brand or Lose It

Logical. Your point is totally logical though I am not sure whether the other legacy carrier brands are that much better in terms of consumers actually liking the brand experience. It's pretty dreary all round and so much of airline travel has become a commodity.

That being said, any improvement in a brand that was once really loved is appreciated by consumers.

Google's Ad-Sales Reporting Is the Real Newspaper Killer

Great points, Relayer10, but having grown up in newspapers working in alternative weeklies, we still had to sell the way newspapers have to sell now. That means, when you put in an ad in the alt weekly, you hoped that you would get the retailer some result, but what you were doing is starting a conversation with the customer that was long term--you were always trying to sell the advertiser that you were trying to bring awareness to their store and such.

I do think that newspapers can begin to provide metrics, even if there is only a small bit of information. For instance, the newsletter I got was only a few actual bits of info, but mostly explanation.

McClatchy (MNI) or Gannett (GAN) or Scripps (SSP) could easily invest in a CRM system that married daily newsstand sales with the day an ad runs. That would give some explanation for advertisers.

So I am a small restaurant in Miami, and I advertise my job opening for dishwashers. I haven't been in the daily paper recently, but after my $40 ad, I get info that tells me how many people saw the ad online on various networks, which networks online, how many single copies were sold that day in print, exactly how many paid subscribers there were that day. The newspaper then threw in some extra info about how they can use a classified ad to build search traffic in general, and talk about response to ads in general. This employment ad can begin to rebuild the relationship between newspaper and advertiser, and now that the relationship has started, the newspaper can publicize that new restaurant directory that the newspaper is publishing online and next Sunday in the print edition.

A Nation of Savers: What Difference Would It Make?

This is a fascinating take. Thanks for taking the time to put it down in words. Even through 1970s stagflation, some chains and companies did well, with respectable returns.

Fiat's Product Line-up: U.S. Entry Strategy

Great instructive post. Fiat has been very innovative, and would not only give product strength to Chrysler, but is known for its production quality.

The brands Alfa Romeo and Fiat also have value in the US. Since Fiat left the US market, there has been a MAMMOTH whopper of immigration to the US from Europe, Middle East and Africa, and all those places are familiar with Fiat brand. These offerings would help Chrysler dealers quickly, as they are suffering terribly with current Chrysler product. This would help Chrysler the most, as Europeans are familiar with Ford and GM products, but known nothing of Chrysler products, so a whole market is being lost to Chrysler dealers.

While Chrysler could rebrand some Fiat cars to have models available, Fiat would do well to also reintroduce its own brands....

How Radio Shack Can Shine

That's bad news. And just thinking of it, it took from the 1930s to the late 70s before FM eclipsed AM.. 40 years....

If radio networks want it to be adopted they ought to do some barter for their unsold radio time to RSH and the rest.

Bridgford Foods: Expecting Dismal 4Q, But Relief Is Coming

Actually, the frozen bread dough stuff is really good. It's just that most folks don't know about it.

Macy's Should Monetize Its Former Brands

KPO: I think your idea of a single State Street store is totally valid. This idea could also work for some of the other downtown locations of Macy's. The reality is that for decades and decades, a department store was not a chain. Instead, it was one store that was more of a real estate play. Department stores were filled with leased departments; they were "malls" before there were malls. The local community in Richmond, Virginia, where I am from called the old Thalhimers the "tall mall" in downtown Richmond. Individual fashion brands like Ralph Lauren and even some of the cosmetics and jewelry vendors also operated their own boutiques inside the store. Thalhimers even leased space to a stamps and coins shop and accepted City of Richmond utility bills, for a fee. A chain as big as Macy's cannot do this sort of thing even if they wanted too; it is far too complex and requires local leadership who can do things like sign a lease with a local coin dealer.

Google Kills Its Print Ads Program - Opportunity for Yahoo?

This is a very interesting observation...it also seems (strangely) good news for newspapers, as the newspapers move from being a commodity buy for advertisers into more of a niche buy. If newspapers were looking to Google to save them, it means that they weren't concentrating on their strengths.

While there are certainly ways that the ad buying process could be simplified for advertisers through software, selling ad space and creating ads for retail local advertisers is something that cries out for thinking and time.

Macy's Should Monetize Its Former Brands

Good points,Tired of Propaganda, but the two goals of a national brand, and using any equity in a former name, are not mutually exclusive. The Wanamaker example is NOT preposterous. Macy's has spent inordinate amounts to restore the Wanamaker organ, and has been VERY generous with cultural organizations in the restoration and involvement with these groups. The Friends of the Wanamaker Organ, the light show....But Macy's is missing the boat by not capitalizing more on the Wanamaker name. The store is obviously Macy's, but to most Philadelphians (and to the National Register of Historic Places and the history books) it is Wanamakers, and if it is going to spend the extra money to keep these retail palaces going, it needs to reconcile these two conflicting ideas. Again, the two are not mutually exclusive.

It is the same situation at Marshall Field's. Even though it is a Macy's, Marshall Field's is on plaques, and part of its identity and history. If you are going to have the expense of operating that store, you need to continue to make Macy's a national brand, yet incorporate enough references to what was so that it makes sense to consumers. It doesn't now.

Bon-Ton is not a good example. So many of the mid-market stores have been run like commodities and the only reason they have been able to hang on is the old identity.

Cause of Department Stores' Decline: Changing Spending Habits

Good insight. The other thing you didn't mention. Macy's has eliminated regional brands that are quite beloved..Marshall Field raised a stink in Chicago, and people were visibly angry..a NY/Chicago rivalry that hit home the old "second city" inferiority complex. But what Macy's missed is that most of their brands were over 100 years old, and were expressions of civic identity. Atlantans loved Rich's, and Floridians loved Burdine's. It would be analagous to the NFL deciding, for economy's sake, to name all its teams "NFL" or "Giants" and expect the fans to come back. Even if the game is just as good and the teams were the same, they've lost a bit of local identity.

A&P: Time to Go Long

Mark. Glad you are positive on A&P. They have a great brand; nostalgia colors my image of them, even when they totally screwed things up in the 1980s. My only criticism is that they really need to figure out a store format and square footage that not only sells like crazy, but could compete right next to a Wal-Mart. Walgreen's can do this, and so could A&P. The other thing. They need to go BACK to the round A&P logo. It was perfection, and is still known by anyone over 40.

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

Thanks for all your GREAT comments. Valley Outsider, you ask the question..do I drive a stripped down car? Well sort of...I have that $13,500 Yaris. While it has AC and a great stereo, it still has crank windows and a manual transmission. It's fine for what I need, getting around town.

From 1990 to 2004, I drove a Honda Civic 1990 two door, that had 200K miles on it. it drove forever. Big pain cause it didnt have AC, though it did have a good stereo.


On Jan 08 11:03 AM Valley Outsider wrote:

> This is the most baby-boomer minded article I've read in a while.
> "Where is my manual transmission, AM radio, hand-crank window model?"
> Is there anything that sounds more dated? Garland, do you actually
> drive such a car? I didn't think so.
>
> After going for years without power mirrors and driving at night
> with the right mirror shining in my eyes and having no way to move
> it while driving, I swore I would never buy a car again without power
> everything. No one wants to drive a stripped down model, and this
> has been 'priced into the market' as they say. Detroit just follows
> the trends that the consumer research tells them, and they cannot
> be faulted for that.
>
> A stripped down model is the way of the past--it has no role in the
> future, sorry.
>
> You could compare it to the Netbooks vs Laptops marketplace.

>
>
> Netbooks are widely successful in the PC arena not because they are
> stripped down, but because they went back to the true reason people
> liked laptops in the first place--they are portable! Ask anyone
> who's lugged an 8lb laptop thru an airport if they wish it wasn't
> a third the weight. Of course they do! Yes they are stripped down
> in terms of features and cost less, just like a Plymouth Fury, but
> no one has to carry a Fury. The few number of features is not the
> primary reason they are successful--the weight and size is. Even
> the words "Desktop Replacement" make my shoulder hurt.

Detroit: Please Bring Back the Stripped Car

Great points all. And I meant 1987 for the Chevette, not 1997. By then, I guess Chevy had introduced Geo?

The point of adding crank windows and such is totally valid; you don't want to INCREASE the price of a car just to make it seem like it is cheap. But I do think some things can be eliminated. For instance, cars used to have simple rolled plastic on the floors, rather than carpet. Of course you might save $10 bucks with that...but Part of selling a cheap car is creating a perception of value in the upper end models. If you sell the base model with vinyl floor, you make $100 by selling the carpet version.